Complete Game Notes

GAME QUICK FACTS
Millersville (11-2) at West Chester (8-5)
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 - 6 p.m.
Hollinger Fieldhouse, West Chester, Pa.

Millersville at Kutztown (10-3)
Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 - 6 p.m.
Keystone Hall, Kutztown, Pa.

COVERAGE
Audio: MSBN

ABOUT THE GAMES
•    Millersville opens PSAC East play after compiling an 11-2 non-conference record, which the Marauders capped off with a sweep of Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst in PSAC crossover action this past weekend.
•    The Marauders have finished with winning records in 16 of the 18 seasons during coach Mary Fleig's tenure, but they are a surprising 7-11 in PSAC East openers during that time span.
•    Millersville holds a 23-16 record against West Chester under coach Fleig and a 28-11 record versus Kutztown. The Marauders have beaten Kutztown in 15 straight games dating back to the 2001-02 season. The Golden Bears last victory came back on Jan. 9, 2002, when they beat Millersville 69-41 in Kutztown.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
•    Kutztown split its two weekends of PSAC crossover games, going 2-2. The Golden Bears are coming off of a 77-72 win at home against Lock Haven. The win was the 10th of the season for Kutztown, the fourth time in the last five years that the school has eclipsed the double-figure victory mark.
•    The Golden Bears have one of the top five offenses in the PSAC, scoring over 73 points per game. Kutztown has made a habit of building first half leads, outscoring its opponents by 103 points (447-344) in the opening stanza.
•    KU has performed well from both the foul line and beyond the arc. The Golden Bears are hitting 77% of their free throws and connecting on over seven three-pointers per game. The team ranks near the top of the PSAC in each category.
•    The Golden Bears are looking to rid themselves of some recent defensive struggles. They've allowed an average of 81.8 points per game over their last four contests, including a season-high 98 in a loss at Gannon. Kutztown, however, still managed to go 2-2 in its last four games.
•    The Golden Bears are led by sophomore Melissa McQuade's 17.4 points per game, while junior guard Rachel Wisemiller is averaging 16 points per game. Senior Lara Dellegrotti and junior Chauntelle Schroeder also average double digits in scoring.
•    McQuade also leads the Golden Bears in rebounding, pulling down almost 10 boards per game (9.8). She is the team leader in steals at 2.5 per game and ranks second on the team in assists, dishing out 3.9 per contest.
•    West Chester dropped three of its four PSAC crossover contests, but is hoping to build on its last effort, an 89-74 win over Slippery Rock.
•    Senior forward Dana Weems has led the Golden Rams in scoring in 8-of-13 games this season. For the year, Weems is averaging a team-best15.2 points per game.
•    The Golden Rams, like the Golden Bears, present a potent offensive attack. West Chester is averaging 74.2 points per game.
•    WCU is averaging 22.2 turnovers per game, which is among the worst in the PSAC, but the Golden Rams are among the best in the PSAC in creating turnovers, averaging 26.3 takeaways per game.
•    Forward Janelle Garber is the only other Golden Ram averaging double-figures in scoring at 11 points per game. Combined, Weems and Garber are collecting 14 rebounds per game.
•    West Chester will continue to look for contributions from Allison Hostetter, the reigning PSAC Freshman of the Week. Hostetter averaged 14 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in the Golden Rams two games last week. She ranks 12th in the PSAC in steals with 1.2 per game.

THE LAST TIME OUT
•    The Marauders jumped all over Mercyhurst on Sunday afternoon in building a 17-2 lead by the 14:30 mark of the first half. Senior Jenna Philo and junior Aiesha Bellamy were instrumental in Millersville's opening run, scoring six points each.
    Gladine St. Julien turned in one of her best performances to date this season, as she abused the Lakers inside for 10 first half points. The Marauders used their quick start and the post play of St. Julien to build a 31-18 halftime lead.
    Millersville continued to work the inside game throughout the second half. Mercyhurst briefly cut the Marauder lead to single-digits, but the Black and Gold responded with a quick 6-0 run to extend the lead back to 13 with just over six minutes remaining in the game. Millersville took care of business down the stretch in earning the 53-44 win, the team's 11th victory of the season.
    St. Julien put in another strong half, scoring another 10 points and finishing with a game-high 20. Philo dropped in 11 and Bellamy had 10 as the trio combined to score 41 of Millersville's 53 points. Jenna Craig collected a game-high eight rebounds for the Marauders.
    Millersville also did a nice job on the defensive end, holding Stephanie Prischak and Amy Achesinski, Mercyhurst's leading scorers, below their averages.

STARTING STRONG
•    Millersville's 11-2 record marks its best start to a season since 2000-01, when the Marauders started 13-2. The 2000-01 squad finished with a 21-6 record, but fell in the PSAC Quarterfinals to West Chester.

HOMECOMING
•    Senior Gladine St. Julien, the only Berks County native on the Millersville roster, will make a return trip to the county when the Marauders take on Kutztown Saturday night. St. Julien, from Leesport, Pa., was a standout at Schuylkill Valley High School, located just 10 miles from the Kutztown campus.

MARAUDER MILESTONES
•    Millersville's women's basketball program began in 1918 and since then, it has compiled 694 wins, leaving it just six victories shy of 700 all-time wins. Under head coach Mary Fleig, the Marauders have compiled almost half of those victories with 334.
•    The women's team will look to extend its 14-game PSAC Eastern Division winning streak when it travels to West Chester on Wednesday for the PSAC East opener.
•    Last season, coach Fleig won her 300th game at Millersville in the season opener, an 81-38 drubbing of Alderson-Broaddus in the Millersville Tipoff Classic.

AROUND AT THE FINISH
•    Millersville has not yet had a player foul out of a game in 2008-09, a span of 13 games. Junior Aiesha Bellamy was the last Marauder player to foul out of a game, when she did so in the final game of the 2007-08 season, a 70-54 loss to California (Pa.) on March 14, 2008.
   
HAPPY NEW YEAR
•    Millersville has compiled a 105-64 record in the month of January since 1990-91. The Marauders own a winning percentage of .621 in the month. The only month the Marauders have performed better in, is November (45-22, .672). MU has only had three losing records in the month of January in the 18 season time span. This January the Marauders are 3-1.

LOFTY EXPECTATIONS
•    After posting a 24-6 overall record and a perfect 12-0 mark in the PSAC East a year ago, the Marauders were pegged to finish second in the PSAC East this season in the coaches preseason poll. 
•    Shippensburg, a newcomer to the PSAC Eastern Division, was picked to finish at the of the division in 2008. Shippensburg made the switch to the East after the realignment of the PSAC to accomodate the additions of Gannon and Mercyhurst to the Western Division. Shippensburg qualified for the PSAC playoffs last season as the fourth seed out of the competitive Western Division. All-American and PSAC West Athlete of the Year Lauren Beckley heads a Lady Raider team that has reached the playoffs in 13 of the past 14 seasons.
•    West Chester, who qualified for the PSAC playoffs last season as the second seed, finished the season at 9-3 in the division and is picked to finish one spot behind Millersville in third.  Kutztown, who won just four games in the division last year, is picked fourth, while East Stroudsburg is fifth.
•    Forward Gladine St. Julien, an All-PSAC Eastern Divsion First Team selection last season, was named to the 2008 Preseason All-PSAC East Team.

POWER FORWARD
•    Forward Gladine St. Julien stepped up in a huge way last season after the loss of PreseasonAll-PSAC selection Ashley Romanoski due to injury.  St. Julien led the Marauders in scoring average (12.5) and was second on the team in rebounding, averaging 6.7 rebounds per game.
•    St. Julien was honored as the PSAC Eastern Division Athlete of the Week three times last season. 
•    St. Julien poured in a career-high 22 points on December 18, in the first of three losses on the season to California (Pa.).  She matcher her career high on February 23 in a four-point victory over East Stroudsburg.
•    The 6-0 forward scored in double figures in 21 of the team's 30 games last season and managed four double-doubles.  St. Julien led the Marauders in scoring 13 times and rebounding 11 times.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
•    Since Millersville began playing its home games in Pucillo Gymnasium in 1982, the Marauders are an impressive 249-76 at home in 26 seasons.  The team has never won less than seven games at Pucillo in a single season and has never had a losing record.  Millersville has recorded three losses or fewer at home in 18 of 26 seasons at Pucillo, including a stretch of seven straight seasons from 1996 to 2002.
•    Since the 2000-01 season, Millersville holds a .795 winning percentage at Pucillo.

NEW FACES
•    Despite returning three full-time starters from last year's team and two other players who saw significant action, the Marauders welcome eight new faces to this year's squad.
•    Coach Fleig has recruited seven freshman and a tranfer to fill out the 2008 roster that also includes nine returning players.  Chelsea Barsky, a transfer from St. Francis (Pa.), is in her junior season and despite playing mostly at the guard position while at the Division I Institution, the 5-11 transfer will be called upon to do most of her work in the post.
•    The incoming class is well balanced with four guards and five forwards.  With the addition of 2007-08 red-shirt Emily Balogh, the Marauders will have a very deep bench to spell the starters.
   
WHO NEEDS SPRING BREAK?
•    Extending the season into March is becoming commonplace at Millersville. In 2007-08, the Marauders earned their 12th straight appearance in the PSAC Tournament and seventh consecutive appearance in the conference semifinals.
•    Despite falling in the PSAC Tournament semifinals to California (Pa.), the Marauders entered the NCAA Division II Tournament as the No. 7 seed in the East Region.  Despite leading with under eight minutes to play in the opening-round contest, the Marauders eventually fell for the third time on the season to California (Pa.) to end their season.
•    The Marauders have appeared in the NCAA Tournament five times under the direction of Fleig and have posted a 2-5 record in those appearances.  Millersville defeated Pitt-Johnstown, 75-71 to advance to the regional semifinal in 1999 and the 2002 team knocked off Belmont Abbey, 84-60 to advance for the only two victories.

RECORD BREAKERS
•    In the season-opening 101-30 victory over Columbia Union, the Marauders eclipsed the 100-point mark for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.  In that season the Marauders ironically knocked off the same team (Columbia Union) by a score of 102-52.
•    The 101-point effort was helped in large part to the 60 first-half points scored by the Marauders which broke the school record of 54 set by the 1992-93 team in a lopsided win over Holy Family.
•    The 71-point margin of victory also broke the school record set  by the 1992-93 team that defeated Cheyney by a final score of 94-28. 

DEFENSIVE REIGN
•    Millersville allowed only 42 points against Indiana (Pa.) on Jan. 3, 2009, marking the lowest point total by IUP since 2004.
•     California (Pa.) finally put a chink in Millersville's defensive armor, when the Vulcans scored 76 points against the Marauders on Jan. 4. It was the highest point total surrendered by a Millersville team since Feb. 17, 2007, a span of 42
games.
•     After holding Slippery Rock to 48 points and Mercyhurst to just 44 this past weekend, Millersville has now held its opponents to less than 50 points in 9-of-13 games this season.

TWICE AS NICE
•     Millersville has put an even greater scoring lockdown on two opponents this season, holding each to just 30 points, a feat never before accomplished by a Marauder team under coach Fleig. 
•     The Marauders opened the season in convincing fashion by downing Columbia Union 101-30. On Nov. 19, just four days later, Millersville pulled the feat off once again, this time in a 69-30 victory over Goldey-Beacom. In the win, the Marauders held the Lightning to just two second-half field goals.